Legacy of the Crystal Shard

Campaign start

The road to Bryn Shander

9

FEB/16

The adventure begins with the characters accompanying
a caravan that is on the last leg of its journey to the
town of Bryn Shander in Icewind Dale. After nearly
a month on the trail, everyone in the caravan is roadweary.
The caravan consists of a dozen wagons, an
equal number of merchants, and four caravan guards,
not including the player characters. The caravan carries
mostly food and clothing from the south.
As their destination nears, the travelers talk eagerly
of the comforts awaiting them in Bryn Shander’s inns
and alehouses.

It has been over a month since you signed up as caravan
guards for the expedition to Faerûn’s far north, the frozen
land known as Icewind Dale. The grueling trek up the southern
slopes of the Spine of the World was nothing compared
to the treacherous crossing over the mountain pass. When
the wagon train finally began its descent into Icewind Dale,
everyone in the caravan breathed a collective sigh of relief that
the journey was nearly at an end. That was five days ago.
The first sight of the dale already seems like a distant
memory. Five days of hard travel across the barren tundra
has left ache in the legs and rumble in the belly. Frozen
winds have scoured memory of warmer climes, and at night,
huddled behind the rude shelter of circled wagons, the sound
of the groaning breeze is a constant companion.
This morning, however, there is a sense of liveliness as the
caravan breaks camp. Beorne Steelstrike, the dwarf leading
the expedition, has indicated that the caravan might be able
to make its destination before nightfall if everyone pushes
hard today. Not wanting to spend a single night more than
necessary in this unforgiving wasteland, everyone hastens to
hitch their wagons.
As your fellow travelers make ready, they speak of the
comforts that await them at your destination, the trade
town of Bryn Shander. “Once I’ve seen to the wagons, it’ll be
straight to Kelvin’s Comfort for me,” declares Beorne, doing a
last check up the line. “A cup o’ Flamebeard’s Firebrandy will
warm ye up faster than any hearth fire!” Swinging up into his
seat, he gives a shout and cracks his reins, and the caravan
rumbles forward.